Sacrifices
by Claddagh girl
Summary: Cordelia's new boyfriend brings a few surprises for the AI team. A/C friendship. Sucky summary I know... it gets better I promise!
1. chapter one

A/N: This was my very first fiction. I still can't believe I actually finished it! It is set before Angel season two and so I had no idea about what was coming in season three. If you have seen it you know what I'm referring to. Please bare this in mind when reading. Doyle hasn't been gone for very long and A.I the team still occupy their original office.  
  
Disclaimer: They are defiantly not mine. I just like to play with them.  
  
  
  
  
  
1759. Sheldon Farm. Arkansas The chanting had lasted for hours and she was starting to get tired but didn't really mind. Isabelle was fast becoming addicted to the thrill and anticipation leading up to the kill. She had recited all the incantations, adorned her slender figure with the ceremonial cloth and painted her master's insignia on to her flesh. Now she was ready to perform the final act. To sacrifice a human life.  
  
Her husband of only a year was about to meet a gruesome end and she was going to get away with it. She had before and no doubt she would again.  
  
"Isabelle, what are you doing? Please... Put down the fork." The young farmer tried his best to stay calm but he was backed into the corner of the hay barn trying to guard his face from the unpleasant end of the pitchfork being held aloft by his wife. "Good lord, what has become of you?" He murmured as she carefully corrected her aim and looked deep into his eyes.  
  
"Jonathan, my love. Yours will be a noble death." She was serious. She was really going to kill him! It could have been a trick of the light but in what he guessed were his final minutes on earth, he could have sworn he saw fire dancing in her eyes.  
  
She lifted her head proudly and tightened her grip on the handle and spoke in a low growl that frightened him to his core.  
  
"Lucifer, mighty lord of fire and darkness! Receive this soul, my sacrifice to thee. Take from him his life force and bestow it upon me thy faithful servant!"  
  
"Witch! You're a witch!" He cried, desperately.  
  
"Oh, I'm not a witch." She said with a delightfully evil grin. "I'm something else."  
  
As she lunged forward and he heard the sound of his own heartbeat fading, Jonathan Sheldon could only imagine what evil, what demon, could have possessed his beautiful young Irish wife and had driven her to this madness.  
  
Everything went black and then there was nothing.  
  
  
  
Present day. Los Angeles.  
  
Cordelia Chase meandered around the store trying to locate the latest edition of 'Vogue' magazine so that she could at least attempt to keep up with the fashion world and the 'in' crowd.  
  
The 'in' crowd. Once upon a time she was the 'in' crowd but that existence seemed so far away now.  
  
She took comfort in the knowledge that she was fighting the forces of darkness with Angel and Wesley and was helping to make the world, or at least LA, a better place but she still got Goosebumps every time she saw anything carrying a Prada label. Who would have thought that five little letters P R A D A could make someone so happy? She had come to think of it as the last link between herself and the life she used to know, life in a world where creatures of evil and things that go bump in the night were just a figment of the imagination. She needed something that she could hold on to. Something to touch that wasn't a nightmare.  
  
She found her bible in pride of place, third shelf up and dead center. It was the last copy so she snatched it up and held it close to her chest like a security blanket as she walked over to the counter to part with her hard earned cash.  
  
Before the cash register had chance to swallow up her money she was already well engrossed in an article about the relationship between Anorexia Nervosa and the media. Another one.  
  
She didn't see a man enter the store. She didn't see him not looking where he was going and she didn't see him not realize he was about to walk straight into her.  
  
It was only when they collided head on and she dropped her magazine on the floor that she saw him and he saw her embarrassed face as she retrieved it.  
  
"I'm so sorry, that was completely my fault." She gushed. He was definitely a hotty! "I should really learn to look where I'm going. I seem to be bumping in to things a lot lately."  
  
He smiled back at her and his whole face lit up.  
  
"You really should, I mean, you wouldn't want to do anything that could jeopardize that gorgeous face of yours." His smile widened. "But, of course if you feel like making a career out of it then I'd be more than happy to offer my services, you can bump into me any time you want."  
  
A hotty and smooth too. Probably not a trustworthy combination.  
  
"Actually I'm working on a failing acting career right now but if I change my mind, I'll be sure to give you a call." She started to walk away but he wasn't going to let her escape just yet.  
  
"Well you'll need my number then just in case. My name is Eden by the way."  
  
She felt her stomach tumble as she started to succumb to his charm. She wasn't usually so easily won over but there was something familiar about him that made her feel safe. He exuded a certain confidence that told her he was comfortable with himself but not in any way arrogant. He seemed honest. It was refreshing.  
  
"Hi. I'm Cordelia, it's nice bumping into you." She said, shaking his hand.  
  
"Please just hit me over the head and run if you think I'm being out of line here but if you're not busy I'd like to buy you a coffee or something."  
  
He had on the cutest little boy face he could manage and hoped with all his heart that she wasn't thinking he was just another, in what he assumed was a long line, of guys that hit on her on a regular basis.  
  
Yes, yes, a thousand times yes!! Her voice screamed inside her head but she decided to play it cool. "I don't know. I mean, I just met you and I have to be back at my office in half an hour." She said, coyly.  
  
"I thought you said you were an actress?"  
  
Hotty. Smooth and confident. She added inquisitive to the list.  
  
"I said failing actress, there's a difference you know. So by day and a lot of the time, by night, I work in an office for a private investigator. We go after all the bad guys and rescue the damsels in distress, that kind of thing."  
  
He stuck out his bottom lip indicating that he was both suitably impressed and intrigued. Not only was she a traffic stopper, she was exciting too.  
  
"Cool." He enthused.  
  
"Nah. Just you're average every day kind of stuff really but it pays the rent." She thought he was going to say something but he didn't, he just stood there smiling at her. "Well, alright then... Coffee sounds good. On the other hand if you turn out to be all evil or some kind of monster that preys on young women, then you should know that I have some very protective friends and I would be missed. Okay?" She said wagging her finger at him.  
  
"I guess so." He shrugged, and imagined her surrounded by body builders wielding various instruments of torture.  
  
Of course the truth was far scarier. The friends she was referring to were a tall brooding vampire with a soul named Angel and a stereotypical English guy who went by the name of Wesley.  
  
Yes, Wesley could be extremely intimidating... Well, at Scrabble anyway!  
  
A short while later inside a trendy and very busy coffee shop Cordelia and Eden were sat by the window, drinks in hand, and already talking like old friends who hadn't seen each other in a long time.  
  
"That's pretty embarrassing but its nothing compared to this one time I was in the office alone, or at least I thought I was, and I've got the radio on pretty loud when this really cool song came on. I forget what it was, and anyway I started singing and dancing, twirling around the room like a mad woman when in walked Angel and Wesley, grinning their heads off, and I'm like totally oblivious to them standing there watching me." She said chuckling at the memory. "The song had almost finished before I even realized they were there. All Wesley could say was that sometimes he worries about my sanity."  
  
Eden laughed too. She had the most amazing smile, and her eyes! They were big and brown like a cow's and sparkled like a mirror ball when she laughed.  
  
"What did Angel say to your little performance?"  
  
"Oh my god." She started to laugh again. "He said he thought I'd been possessed by the 'Britney demon', and he was going to stake me." Her amusement quickly disappeared when she realized that she was being perfectly serious and that she may have just said too much. The look on Eden's face only re-enforced her suspicions. "Or something else absolutely nothing to do with demons, that was just as funny. Is there any chance you could just forget that I said that last part? I'm not crazy, honestly."  
  
She didn't expect the reply she received.  
  
"Its alright, you don't have to pretend, I know about demons and vampires and stuff." The glow in Eden's face had gone and he seemed to be struggling to form the words as he tapped the rim of his cup apprehensively.  
  
"You do? Oh... Well. That makes things so much easier, I mean now I don't have to lie to you about my job or anything, I mean my real job." She breathed a huge sigh of relief and pretended not to notice his sudden attack of the heebie-jeebies.  
  
"What do you mean your real job? I thought you said Angel was a private investigator?" He asked in a confused tone.  
  
"He is, but we mostly investigate demons." Curiosity got the better of her and she had to ask. "So tell me, how do you know about all this stuff?"  
  
"My father was killed by a vampire, it was a long time ago, before I was born. My mom told me all about it."  
  
"Oh I'm sorry." She knew only too well what it felt like to lose someone that way.  
  
Okay so the heebie jeebies were justified, and she was getting the impression that it wasn't really his favorite topic of conversation. But Cordelia was a naturally nosy person and kept probing whether he wanted to talk about it or not because he had potential husband stamped all over him and there were a few things she needed to know.  
  
"This might be a dumb question but, your father being killed to one side, how do you feel about the whole vampire thing?"  
  
He looked up at her in astonishment. That really was a dumb question but then again he didn't know about Angel. Not yet anyway.  
  
"How would you expect me to feel? I hate them. I hate them with a passion. How else could I feel?"  
  
To say he was a little perturbed was ever such a slight understatement.  
  
"Whoa horsy, I get the picture. You hate them and you're entitled to feel that way but what about the good ones?"  
  
"I've never met a good one, I didn't think it was even possible."  
  
Still perturbed though. This wasn't going to be easy, she would have to tread lightly.  
  
"What if I told you it was? " She held her hands together and wrung them out like a cloth nervously, hoping she wasn't about to make a terrible mistake.  
  
If he knew about vampires that also meant he knew how to kill them and if he somehow got the wrong idea about Angel, she could be just about to sign his death warrant.  
  
"I don't know if I like the sound of this." He looked at her as though she was delusional and added that to his own little list of attributes he had created for her. Alongside exciting, charming, beautiful, and finally, possible mental patient!  
  
"I think I like you." She paused and summoned her sincere face to the fore. "Granted I've only known you for what? Not even half an hour but if we are going to see each other again, which I hope we will, then there's something you need to know."  
  
"Go on."  
  
Sincerity face was working like a charm. Those mirror ball eyes gleamed so brightly he had to let her finish. He grabbed an imaginary eraser and rubbed out 'Possible mental patient'.  
  
"My boss, Angel, is a vampire. But he's a good guy, he really is."  
  
Was she joking? He couldn't really tell so picked up his imaginary number two pencil and put a huge question mark on the list.  
  
"Why are you telling me this? Wouldn't it have just been easier to not tell me?"  
  
He obviously hadn't emphasized enough just how much he really did not like vampires. He hated them as much as it was possible to hate something, in fact he hated them more than that. And then some!  
  
"No. It wouldn't."  
  
She didn't have to try to look sincere anymore, it came naturally because she actually meant it. "There's one thing I've learned in my life and that's that secrets only end up causing more harm than good, and I thought you should know."  
  
Angel and the demon world were part of her life now and they came with the Cordelia Chase package. If he couldn't handle it then she didn't think there was much hope.  
  
* * *  
  
Cordelia placed her hand gently on the copper doorknob and turned it slowly, hoping that Angel would be down in his apartment and that she would be able to sneak back into the office unnoticed.  
  
Once inside she quietly closed the door behind her, craning her neck to make sure he wasn't hiding behind the filling cabinet ready to pounce and give her yet another lecture about her time keeping.  
  
She tip-toed over to her desk with all the grace of a Prima ballerina, or someone who was constantly late for work and therefore an expert in the art of sneakiness. She sat down and waited for him to appear. There was no sign, just silence.  
  
Ah ha! Success! She thought smugly, but her celebration turned out to be a little premature when Angel's imposing frame appeared in his office door and made her jump right out of her skin.  
  
"Where have you been?"  
  
"You said I could go for a break." She said, shuffling some papers on her desk trying to avoid his glare.  
  
"That was over two hours ago."  
  
Getting angry with her was pointless. It was like water off a duck's back.  
  
"I'm sorry. Cordelia's been a very naughty girl and she promises not to do it again." An impish grin spread wide across her face as she put the papers in her drawer. He raised his eyebrows at her sarcasm. "Don't look at me like that! Oh come on, we're not exactly rushed off our feet now are we?"  
  
He walked over and perched himself on the edge of the desk and folded his arms, assuming the 'I'm pissed off and you know it' position.  
  
"That's not the point, you're supposed to be working."  
  
"Angel, there's nothing to do, and if I have a vision I assure you, you will be the first to know." She vigorously rummaged around in the drawer on the opposite side of her desk looking for her lost car keys.  
  
"Anyway listen, I need to knock off early today if you don't mind?"  
  
"You're joking right? Why?" His arms dropped from around his chest in bewilderment. Did she take this job seriously at all?  
  
"I got me a date." She said, forcing the full length of her arm inside the drawer.  
  
Angel tilted his head observing her odd position. It looked like the desk had opened it's mouth and was trying to bite off her arm at the shoulder. It must have been incredibly uncomfortable. He decided to put her out of her misery and walked over to the coat stand and retrieved her keys from the pocket of her denim jacket, and sauntered back to the desk swinging them in the air.  
  
"I didn't know you were seeing anyone." He watched as she struggled to dislodge her limb from the jaws of the great wooden beast.  
  
"I wasn't, but I am now. I met this guy while I was out."  
  
He held the keys up out of her reach. "So that's what took you so long."  
  
"Thank you!" Snatching them from him. "So can I go?" She smiled hopefully.  
  
"Do I have a choice?"  
  
"No." Hope quickly turned to victory.  
  
"Then why ask?"  
  
She leapt out of her chair and was just about to throw her arms around his neck in appreciation but stopped herself just in time, remembering Angel wasn't big on showing affection. Unless your name was Buffy Summers and you happened to be a Slayer and the only one true love of his life.  
  
His gypsy curse made sure he didn't get too close to women full stop. One moment of perfect happiness, just one fraction of a second of pure bliss, threatened his very soul. He would revert to his alter ego Angelus, the most evil and vile vampire of all time. So ghastly, that even the Master had held him in high regard, declaring Angelus to be the most viscous creature he had ever known. And he should know, the Master had been the oldest vampire on record. Until Buffy had killed him.  
  
"Thank you, I promise I'll make up the extra time tomorrow."  
  
"There's one condition." He said with a sly grin.  
  
An alarm bell started to ring inside Cordelia's head. She knew exactly what he was going to say.  
  
"What?" With her hands on her hips she tapped her foot and waited.  
  
"I want to meet him."  
  
Bingo.  
  
"Why? Whenever I meet someone you always want to check them out first, you get all big brotherly."  
  
"Do not."  
  
"Do too! See, you're doing it now."  
  
"Am not."  
  
"Are too!" She saw his eyebrows flicker, the way they did when he was teasing her and was trying not to laugh, she managed to groan out a chuckle grudgingly. "He's a nice guy, and I think he likes me."  
  
"I'll try not to embarrass you too much."  
  
"You'd better not, I want to hang on to this one."  
  
He had never purposefully set out to embarrass her, although she would swear he had, he was always polite and sincere but for some reason he seemed to come off as grouchy.  
  
She grabbed her jacket from the stand and headed towards the door but stopped halfway across the floor and spun on her heels. "Oh yeah, before I forget... he knows you're a vampire." "What? How?"  
  
"I told him."  
  
So much for keeping his existence a secret! Eluding the authorities for over a hundred years hadn't been difficult. Up until a few years ago his was just another blank face in the homeless community that resided in the dark alleys of America and no one had ever even noticed him. But now he had a lot to lose and with Cordelia's blabbing left, right, and center, how long would it be before he found himself in the spotlight and somebody started asking questions?  
  
"It's okay he knows about these things, apparently his father was killed by a vampire before he was born."  
  
Angel's heart sank and he felt a sudden rush of shame for what he was and what his race was capable of. Although he had a soul and was no longer a killer, at the root of it, the fact remained that he too was a demon just like them. He felt responsible for every wrong the vampire species had ever committed.  
  
"Maybe it's not such a great idea for me to meet him after all." He offered.  
  
"Oh no, I told him that you're a good guy, he was cool with it, eventually."  
  
"Are you sure?"  
  
"I thought you said you wanted to meet him?"  
  
"I do, but I don't want to make him feel awkward." Angel was hardly ever selfish but as much as he worried that Eden might feel uneasy around him, this time he was more concerned with his own discomfort at the situation. He had enough guilt to carry around with him without adding to it. Even if it wasn't his doing.  
  
"It'll be fine. Trust me." She gave him a 'heads up' pat on the arm and disappeared out of the door to get ready for her date.  
  
* * *  
  
Later that evening, Cordelia stood proudly wearing her favorite black dress. Not too smart but not too casual. She toyed with the idea of aiming for slightly slutty but she didn't want to give him the wrong idea, it was only their first date. Eden was beside her out in the street in front of the office, he ruffled his spiky brown hair and tugged at his shirt apprehensively.  
  
"Do I look okay?"  
  
"You look great. I don't know why you're so worried, it's only Angel and Wesley, it's not like you're meeting my father or anything."  
  
"You don't think I should go home and change my shirt?" Checks always made him look like a country boy and that wasn't the look he was going for.  
  
"For the hundredth time, no." She straightened out a few creases on his sleeve like a mother would. "You know, Angel is just as nervous about meeting you as you are about him."  
  
"He is?"  
  
A vampire. Nervous? Surely that was some sort of contradiction of terms?  
  
"Yeah, but he won't show it, he has this face of stone thing going on. To the untrained eye, it's almost impossible to tell how he's feeling."  
  
"Why should he be nervous?"  
  
She had told him all about Angel and he didn't seem like a nervous person, or vampire. What was the politically correct term? Do vampires even care about political correctness? Most probably wouldn't, they would be too concerned with draining you of the red ale.  
  
"I told him about your dad, so he automatically thinks you're going to hate him or blame him somehow."  
  
"I wouldn't do that."  
  
"I know but I'm going to have to frisk you all the same, just in case you've got any stakes stashed anywhere." She laughed and poked him in the ribs playfully.  
  
"Rest assured, I'm not armed or dangerous. In all honesty I think I'm actually looking forward to this. Albeit in a bizarre, 'I could be about to meet my grisly death at the hands, fangs, of a vampire' but still..."  
  
"Relax, you're not going to die tonight... Come on." She picked up his hand and took him inside where Angel was tugging at his shirt apprehensively.  
  
* * *  
  
Wesley had returned to the office to give Angel some much needed moral support but he was surprised to see that he was coping quite well on his own, so sat in the background ready to jump in if needs be. He tried to make himself look busy be leafing through some files, not realizing that half of them were upside down.  
  
After much deliberation Angel had decided not to apologize for being a vampire and to stick to the usual introductory topic of conversation and pleasantries. Avoid the awkward, for Cordelia's sake. So far it seemed to be going well.  
  
"So, what do you do? For a living?" He said, trying to summon as much false enthusiasm as he could.  
  
"I'm between jobs right now, as they say, but I enjoy history and I'd really like to teach one day."  
  
Wesley's head shot up. "A man after my own heart, any particular period in history?"  
  
"Not really but I recently started reading Irish history, it's very interesting."  
  
"Ah well, you might want to have a word with Angel about that sometime, he's from Ireland."  
  
Eden regarded Angel with no sense of surprise as Cordelia had already told him as much. "You are."  
  
"Originally, but I've travelled around a lot and I haven't been back for a long time." Angel didn't think talking about Ireland would be a good idea. Ireland led to Galway, his hometown, Galway led to Darla and Darla was a vampire, and vampire talk was never good around already nervous humans.  
  
"Have you ever thought of going home? Maybe look up some family?"  
  
What family? I killed them all. He thought to himself with disgust. "I've never given it much thought, no." Angel flashed a look in Cordelia's direction. Help me out here?  
  
She saw, and looked at her wristwatch. "We'd love to stay and continue this male bonding thing but if we do we're going to miss the movie... Eden?"  
  
Eden was busy studying Angel's face. For some reason he thought he would look a lot more terrifying but his features, although striking, were soft and compassionate. All the other vamps he had encountered had worn their demon faces as they chased him. He had never seen one up close and personal. Cordelia gave his shirt a tug, snapping him out of his transfixed state.  
  
"Right..." He looked at Angel again and shook his hand. "It was nice to meet you."  
  
"You too." Angel smiled. I hope my hands aren't too cold.  
  
Wesley leaned back in his chair casually as Cordelia excitedly embarked on her first date in a long time. He recalled that the last boyfriend she had had turned out to be the loyal servant of a Haxor beast, intent on world domination. As most demons tend to be. She had awoken after a safe night of passion with him to find herself heavily pregnant with a small army of the very same demons. Poor girl. He sympathized. "Well she knows how to pick them doesn't she?"  
  
Angel sat on the most comfortable of the three uncomfortable green chairs in the outer office and raised his eyebrows in question. "What are you talking about?"  
  
"It's obvious isn't it?" He propped his feet up on the edge of the desk. "The boy is gay."  
  
Angel's eyebrows reached new heights on his forehead.  
  
"You mean to tell me you didn't see the way he was looking at you?"  
  
"He was?" "Oh please! A blind man could have picked up on it." He reported.  
  
"If that were true, why is he out with Cordelia?" Angel waved his hand dismissively at him and continued. "You know what I think, I think there's a chance you might be jealous."  
  
"Well that's absurd. My feelings for her are purely professional and not at all improper." Wesley argued, but then his mind hurtled back to the previous year in Sunnydale and to Prom night when he and Cordelia had danced together as librarian and student, secretly full of lust for each other.  
  
"Actually, no. You're quite right." He admitted. "I think I might be... but just a tad."  
  
Angel smiled.  
  
"Or maybe it's just that I feel she needs to be protected, I mean, what with her track record."  
  
"She does seem to attract the non human type, but Eden's alright... So far anyway. I like him."  
  
"Only time will tell I suppose." Nostalgic for the brief period of affection they had shared. "But my money's on gay." He added optimistically.  
  
"You need to get out more." Angel concluded and allowed himself a smirk.  
  
* * *  
  
After leaving the movie and arguing about whether or not it technically qualified as a chick flick due to it's impressive arsenal of weaponry, Cordelia and Eden were walking arm in arm along a quiet back street making their way to his car. She had also felt it vital to point out to him that the performance given by the lead role had been appalling and she would have done an immeasurably better job if they had cast her instead. The fact that she would be lucky to even get an audition for something that huge in the first place was beside the point.  
  
They acted as if they had known each other all their lives and ordinarily she would have liked to have gone clubbing with her date and spent the night dancing, but with Eden it was different. He was so easy to talk to and it felt completely natural that they should go somewhere and do just that, nothing more.  
  
"I'm not saying he was fat, let's just call it a severe case of pie retention." She said, flatly but with a glint in her eye. Reviving, for a split second, the old Cordelia. Sunnydale Cordelia. Eden laughed so hard he almost started coughing. 'Queen C' dissipated and she seemed to mature, almost instantly.  
  
"No, seriously though, if you could have anything in the whole world, what would it be?"  
  
"World peace." He said, in a goofy voice.  
  
"Stop it." She slapped him on the arm. "Come on tell me."  
  
His laughter faded and his face took on a more sensitive expression. "It sounds really lame, I don't want to tell you."  
  
"It doesn't matter, the lamer the better. I want to know." She said, still with a hint of amusement.  
  
Eden stopped walking and looked down at his shoes, sheepishly. "My father." There was a slight crack in his voice making Cordelia realized he was about to open his heart and it was going to hurt.  
  
"There's nothing lame about that." She reassured him, squeezing his hand.  
  
"I want to know who he was. I know his name and where he came from but I want know to what he was like as a person, you know? That kind of stuff." He kicked a stone along the ground in frustration.  
  
It scuttled across the concrete paving and fell down a storm drain, making a faint bloop sound as it hit the water below. Cordelia put her arm through his as though she were cold and they started on their way again. She sensed that he wanted to talk some more but he wasn't sure where to start.  
  
"Well what about your mom, can't you ask her?" She prodded softly.  
  
"She doesn't like to talk about it, it's all a big 'no go' area with her. I guess she loved him so much it still hurts."  
  
"That's understandable." Thinking that it was obvious that his mother wasn't the only one in pain.  
  
"I'd give anything just to be able to sit down with him and tell him all about my life, and ask him about his own." There was passion in his tone of voice. The floodgates had opened and he couldn't hold back.  
  
"I want to know if we had anything in common, could we have been friends? I haven't always seen eye to eye with my mom and it would have been great if I could have had someone else to turn to for advice when I needed it. Someone I could be proud of, someone who could be proud of me." His face was struggling to find the appropriate expression through all the pent-up emotion.  
  
"I know it's not much consolation but I ask myself those same questions about my parents too," She offered. "and I'm lucky, mine are still alive." Way to go Cordelia! She was only being her usual, honest self and hadn't meant to be quite so blunt. "Oh, I'm sorry I didn't mean that to sound cold." She quickly added.  
  
"It's alright, I know what you mean."  
  
The street had been deserted so far, and Cordelia had thought they were alone until, out of the corner of her eye, she noticed a man walking a little way behind them to the right. He had his head bowed and didn't seem to be paying much attention to where he was going. Cordelia thought that was odd, there was something about him that didn't seem quite right. His clothing was dark and tatty, and he seemed to be fidgeting a lot. It frightened her a little so she tried to make Eden quicken has pace so that they could get out of the alley and back into public view. They were only two blocks away from his car.  
  
"That's enough of the depressing talk," Eden stopped again. Even though Cordelia wanted to be on their way for fear the man behind them was in pursuit, she didn't move and let Eden pull her close to him.  
  
"I don't know about you but I've had the best time today."  
  
She stole a glance over to the path the man had taken, he had gone. She didn't know whether to panic or relax.  
  
"There is only one thing that could possibly make it any better."  
  
"What would that be?" She asked, starting to calm a little and smiled as he leaned in to kiss her. She started to go weak at the knees and as much as she would love the cause to be excitement at the thought of their lips meeting, it appeared that yet another agonizingly painful vision was about to overwhelm her. Great timing! She thought to herself as she collapsed in a heap on the ground, clutching her head.  
  
Eden was struck dumb. He didn't know what to do.  
  
"Oh my god! Cordelia! What's wrong? "  
  
His voice seemed so far away, she could barely hear him. A wave of convulsions raged through her body. Her mind desperately tried to make sense of the images being sent from the Powers That Be. There was a flash of silver. Followed by a hooded figure. She felt a sense of fear and panic. Her skin ran icy cold and she trembled. Voices, lots of voices but she could not understand them. What are they saying? What are you trying to tell me? I... I don't understand! More pain, so intense she was sure her head would explode or implode, she didn't know which!  
  
Then just as suddenly as it had begun, it ended and there was nothing.  
  
Only silence and darkness.  
  
Her ordeal was thankfully over. She sat up wiping her eyes and tried her best to make light of the situation. "Wow, do you have that effect on all women?"  
  
There was no answer.  
  
"Eden?"  
  
Still no answer.  
  
She looked up for the first time seeing a body lying in the middle of the road, and heard footsteps running off in to the distance. The man who had been following them was making his getaway with a small leather wallet in one hand and what appeared to be a gun in the other. She looked back at the body. "Eden! No!"  
  
She frantically crawled over to him, he was not moving. She reached out her hand and turned his face towards her, hardly daring to look. She screwed up her nose and squeezed her eyes closed. Please no, don't let him be dead, please! Tears waited to fall from beneath her eyelids as she opened them again. He returned her horrified gaze with one overwhelmed with of pain and shock. He weakly lifted his bloodied hand from the puncture wound in his midriff, and reached up to hold her face. Struggling to hold on to consciousness he tried to whisper her name but his voice was muted by blood gurgling in his mouth and trickling over his lips.  
  
The alley seemed to be growing colder and darker by the second as Cordelia desperately screamed for help, wondering if anyone could actually hear her cries. Her cell-phone was back at the office. All she could do was scream, and scream. 


	2. chapter two

Angel glanced at the large hand on his wristwatch, willing it to fast forward in the hope that eventually Wesley would run out of steam and go home some time tonight. Instead it struggled to climb up to the number twelve while the small hand remained fixed on eleven. He rubbed the back of his neck releasing some of the mounting tension that threatened to cramp up his muscles, and watched Wesley pacing up and down in front of his desk.  
  
He had been rambling on for over an hour and a half now, it had felt like an eternity and Angel couldn't even remember what he was talking about anymore. He had a faint recollection of him getting overly excited when he had mentioned something about beer and darts, Or was it 'Tiddly Winks'?  
  
Every few minutes he had nodded and displayed a fake smile of amusement in Wesley's direction so that he would think he was actually listening, but in fact, as he looked up at him from his chair, he could see Wesley's lips moving but there was no sound coming from them. It was like watching one of those old black and white silent movies from the 1930's.  
  
His mind wandered back to Provance, 1888, when he stood in Vincent van Gough's studio, his glowing vampire eyes and gleaming fangs concealed by the shadows as the artist scribbled wildly at his canvas. Ranting and raving in various languages for hours on end.  
  
His alter ego, Angelus, had taken great pleasure from watching the little man grow increasingly agitated with himself. He taunted him with whispers from the darkness, telling him the world thought that he was crazed and possessed. As he had done with Drusilla, the young English girl he had tormented not so long ago, he drove him insane.  
  
He watched with delight as van Gough sliced off his own ear in his madness, believing the growling voice he heard to be a figment of his imagination, and two years later shot himself from despair.  
  
The world would never know why it's most famous artist was lost, they blamed depression and arguments with his brother but little did they know that a vampire was responsible.  
  
In this animated state, Wesley reminded him of the tiny red haired Dutch man. Credit where credit is due Wes, you've definitely got stamina. Angel thought to himself, offering another wry smile. I wonder if I could fall asleep with my eyes open? Would he even notice?  
  
Just as Angel seriously contemplated the experiment, the phone on Cordelia's desk lit up like a Christmas tree and let out a deafening ring. He had to stop himself from jumping out of the chair and diving on the phone. It rang a second time before Wesley realised, but Angel was already on his feet and picking up the receiver, thankful for the interruption. "Angel Investigations..." He started to recite their slogan with a slight cringe but Cordelia's voice cut him off mid sentence.  
  
"Angel?"  
  
"Cordelia? I didn't expect you to be calling so late," He wanted to tell her he had never been quite so relieved to hear her voice but he knew Wesley was in earshot. He lowered to a whisper and continued. "I'm so glad you did though, I was just about to stake Wesley, doesn't he have a home to go to?"  
  
Wesley's head came up with an expectant look on his face. Fearing that he had been heard Angel cleared his throat and added. "So how did it go, your date?"  
  
"Great, Can you pick me up?" She tried her best to sound casual but Angel heard her breath wavering, he instinctually knew there was something wrong.  
  
"Why? Where are you?"  
  
"At the ER."  
  
"What happened?" He said, trying not to panic.  
  
"We were mugged and Eden got shot." At the other end of the line, Cordelia hung on to the telephone cord wrapping it around her finger, and leaned her head against the wall of the hospital corridor.  
  
"They're working on him now... so will you come get me?"  
  
"I'm on my way." He hung up the phone and without taking the time to get his duster he headed for the garage. Wesley followed him as far as the top of the stairs and called after him.  
  
"Angel?"  
  
Angel stopped half way down and faced him. "They've been attacked, they're up at the hospital."  
  
"Cordelia, is she...?" Wesley enquired. Obviously just as disturbed as Angel was.  
  
"I don't know, she didn't say." He smacked his fist against the stairwell wall in frustration. "Eden's in a pretty bad way though. I don't know how long I'm going to be so if you wouldn't mind locking up behind you?" A last ditch attempt at getting Wesley to go home.  
  
"If it's alright with you, I'd like to wait for you and Cordelia to get back."  
  
Angel sighed, "Whatever." and ran down the rest of the stairs.  
  
***  
  
Two hours later Cordelia and Angel walked through the office door in silence. Immediately all the air seemed to be sucked out of the room and Cordelia struggled to breathe. She didn't bother taking off her coat, she just sat at her desk, her arms folded and starred into space in disbelief. She was so cold she felt completely numb. She sat for a moment hugging herself and tucked her chin into her chest.One word plagued her thoughts. Why?  
  
Angel saw her features twitch as she tried so hard not to cry. He handed her a tissue and perched himself on the edge of her desk. "Coffee?"  
  
"No thanks." She said, wiping her eyes and sighed.  
  
Wesley walked in from the other room holding a piece of paper. He looked at Cordelia, then at Angel. He had to say something, anything, to fill the air with conversation instead of tension. "Is everything alright? What happened?"  
  
Angel looked up waiting for Cordelia to answer Wesley but she remained dumb. "It was much worse than they thought." He explained.  
  
"Well how is he? Is he going to be okay?"  
  
"He died Wesley." He said, softly, as he watched Cordelia's bottom lip quiver.  
  
She had been there when the doctor had stood in front of her in his blood soaked scrubs and declared Eden dead. In the bustling corridors of the hospital, his words had been drowned out by the din and it hadn't seemed real, but now hearing Angel say it out loud back in the stillness of their office, it suddenly hit home and she was devastated all over again. A single tear fell down her cheek.  
  
"Oh dear, I'm so sorry." Wesley said, sincerely.  
  
She looked up at him. "It's fine... I only knew him for one day, but I feel..." She was struggling to form the words. She wanted to tell them that she had already fallen in love with Eden but she didn't want them to think she was being irrational and that it was just the shock of the attack that was making her feel this way.  
  
She didn't have to say anything, Angel understood the expression on her face all too well, he had seen it a thousand times on the faces on the loved ones of the people Angelus had murdered all those years ago.  
  
"It doesn't matter how long you know somebody, death is never easy."  
  
She attempted to smile then noticed the paper in Wesley's hand. "What's that?"  
  
"Oh yes, one of your old school friends telephoned, Veronica I think she said her name was? She left you a message."  
  
"What was it?"  
  
"She said to tell you that she's had her baby, a boy."  
  
For a second the three of them fell silent again and unknowingly shared the exact same thought.  
  
Whenever one dies, another is born.  
  
"That's nice. What did she call him?" Cordelia softly broke the silence.  
  
"Apparently she's undecided. She was under the impression that she was having a girl so didn't choose any boys names."  
  
Angel was a little bemused as to who exactly she was talking about, he didn't really know any of her friends from high school after all, his main focus back then had been Buffy and not much else. He could vaguely recall a girl with long blonde hair who was just as stuck-up as Cordy had been but he was quite sure she wasn't the girl in question.  
  
"Which one was Veronica?" He asked, finally, feeling a little ashamed that he hadn't bothered to find out before now.  
  
"I don't know if you ever met her, about my height, super rich skinny girl?" She offered not realising that she had just described over half the female population of Los Angeles.  
  
Understandably, Angel shook his head. "Doesn't ring any bells."  
  
"Anyway, she's married and everything now I can't believe it," She continued. "It's kind of freaky really."  
  
"Sounds pretty normal to me." Angel said with a slight sense of longing and regret that only Wesley seemed to pick up on.  
  
"It's just she was the last person on this earth that I thought would playing at happy families, present company excepted obviously, cos you're a vampire and all."  
  
"What, you can't imagine me with a family?"  
  
"Oh yeah, I can see it now. You the wife and the kids all sat around a big bowl of blood at thanksgiving." She said, sarcastically. "I didn't think vampires could have kids?"  
  
A look of hurt flashed across Angel's face, illustrating the thoughts passing through his tortured mind. I can't have a wife either.  
  
Wesley, who had been silently reading the expressions on Angel's features, spoke up. "Cordelia, I don't think Angel needs to be reminded..."  
  
"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you or anything."  
  
Angel smiled faintly in her direction. Even though he was two hundred and forty seven years old and was used to the idea that he was a vampire, he couldn't let go of the hopes and dreams he had had as a man. The knowledge that he could never live out his aspirations was more painful than getting run through with a two-by-four.  
  
"It's fine. I know you didn't mean it. You've had a really bad day, it's understandable."  
  
"I was having a great day, until... you know." She said, as her eyes started to fill with tears again.  
  
"Yeah."  
  
Wesley looked down at the piece of paper in his hand, thinking about Veronica's baby with his whole life stretched out in front of him. He wondered that if people knew about the dangers that lurked within the darkness of the world, would they even bother to procreate at all? Every day and night was a risk.  
  
His thoughts turned back to Eden and to all the possibilities that could have been, now stolen from him.  
  
"Such a waste, he seemed like such a nice young man." He said solemnly.  
  
Cordelia seemed to brighten at his words and smiled for the first time since they had got back to the office. "He was. He was funny too, he made me laugh."  
  
Angel's smile returned, but was warmer this time. "Wesley thought he was gay."  
  
Immediately, Wesley's face turned a deep shade of red with embarrassment and he desperately tried to change the subject before Cordelia could tare into him.  
  
"I assume you've already spoken to the police?" He blew the air out of his cheeks hoping that it would have a cooling effect on the heat burning his skin.  
  
"They were at the hospital, they just wanted to know all the usual stuff, what did the guy look like etc."  
  
"Did you manage to give them a description?" The distraction tactic seemed to be working.  
  
"No, I was too busy having a stupid vision, that told me nothing by the way," She added angrily. "I didn't see anything. When I came to, all I could see was Eden lying in a big pool of blood."  
  
"What I don't understand is why you didn't have a vision sooner, maybe we could have prevented it."  
  
"If we'd have been attacked by a demon then I might have, but it wasn't. It was just some jerk who needed some money."  
  
Eden's life had been ended by a human. By someone that they worked so hard to protect. There was no ritual, no higher purpose to justify it. It had been cold-blooded murder and it seemed all the more terrifying because of it. 


	3. chapter three

A/N: The rest of this fiction is written in very basic script format. This is because I no longer have the time to re-write and pad the whole thing out in proper story form. (I have two very young children and spare time is a thing of the past!) I hope this doesn't cause any problems and that you enjoy it all the same. - Cg.  
  
---------  
  
The day after Eden's death all is quiet in the office. Angel is down in his apartment. Wesley is reading a book and Cordelia is sitting at her desk, fiddling with her hair in a trance. Wesley looks at her and breaks the silence...  
  
Wesley  
  
"You look exhausted."  
  
Her mind comes hurtling back to reality.  
  
Cordelia: "Hmm? Oh... I didn't get much sleep last night. Every time I closed my eyes I could see him laying there, choking on his own blood."  
  
Wesley: "I can see how that would disturb you, it would anyone. Why don't you take the day off? I'm sure Angel won't mind."  
  
Cordelia: "There's no need, and I'd rather be here than alone at home, wallowing."  
  
Cordelia gets up and walks to the coffee machine to pour herself yet another cup. There is a knock on the outer office door and in walks a woman. Wesley stands to greet her.  
  
Wesley: "Oh, hello. If you're looking for 'Angel Investigations' that's us, come on in..."  
  
Cordelia looks across the room and recognises the woman.  
  
Cordelia: "It's alright Wesley... This is Keavy, Eden's mom. We met at the hospital last night."  
  
Wesley: "Ah..." He said, suddenly feeling overwhelmingly awkward. "I'm sorry we have to meet under such tragic circumstances."  
  
Keavy smiles at him, grateful for his sentiment.  
  
Cordelia: "I guess 'how are you?' is a stupid question... Can I get you anything, a coffee?"  
  
Keavy: "No, thank you, I can't stay... I came to invite you Eden's funeral."  
  
Cordelia: "Thank you but I don't know if I should, I mean, I didn't really know him that well. I think I would feel a little out of place..."  
  
Keavy: "Oh please, I'd like you to come. He called me yesterday, before... He couldn't stop talking about you, so I think he would want you to be there."  
  
Cordelia: "Okay.... Just tell me where and when."  
  
Keavy: "I'm afraid we were never big on religion, so it will be more of a commemorative thing really, just a small group of family and friends and memories. He always loved playing in the woods when he was a child so that's where he'll be laid to rest."  
  
Cordelia: "It sounds beautiful, what time should I get there?"  
  
Keavy: "Is eight thirty alright?"  
  
Cordelia: "A little late, but I'll be there. Should I bring some flowers or something?"  
  
Before Keavy can reply, Angel walks in through the door. He looks at her, she returns his glance. Panic spreads across her face and she turns on her heels and runs out of the door like her life depended on it. Cordelia and Wesley exchange confused expressions, then both look at Angel.  
  
Angel: "Who was that?"  
  
Cordelia: "Eden's mom, what did you do?"  
  
Angel: "I didn't do anything, she just saw me and ran... She looks really familiar... What's her name?"  
  
Cordelia: "Keavy, you must have done something? Why would she run away like that?... Oh my god! You're the vampire that killed his father aren't you?!!"  
  
Angel: "What? No. I can't be. Eden had to be what? 24, 25?"  
  
Cordelia: "I don't know, he never said."  
  
Angel: "However old he was it couldn't have been me, Gypsy curse remember? I didn't kill anyone in the seventies."  
  
Cordelia: "That's comforting to know."  
  
Angel: "She smelled kinda funny, I can't put my finger on it."  
  
Wesley: "Smelled kind of funny? Usually indicating the presence of some sort of demon... So you think she's hiding something? The whole funeral arrangements do seem somewhat strange if you ask me." For one thing, the poor boy only died last night shouldn't there be an autopsy or some sort of police buisness to take care of first?  
  
Cordelia pondered that thought for a moment, he was probably right but Keavy seemed so genuine.  
  
Cordelia: "I don't know Angel, she just doesn't seem the type, if you ask me."  
  
Angel: "Well you know what they say, appearances can be deceiving, and we all know that's true."  
  
He flashes his vampire face at her. Cordelia is horrified.  
  
Cordelia: "Do that again and I'll stake you in your sleep."  
  
Angel: "I'm sorry, I was just illustrating the point."  
  
Cordelia: "Enough with the illustration, I have an imagination you know... I can't believe you did that."  
  
She folds her arms in disgust and walks back over to her desk.  
  
Wesley: "I agree with Angel, for someone who has just lost her son, she didn't seem all that upset. It wouldn't hurt to do a little research would it?"  
  
Angel: "I think a small amount of snooping wouldn't go amiss... Cordelia."  
  
Cordelia: "Me?"  
  
Angel: "Well, you're so good at it."  
  
Two woman enter a mausoleum in a forest. They are discussing a ceremony and placing candles and foiledge around the room  
  
***  
  
Cordelia is sat in her car outside Keavy's home. She is trying to work up the courage to walk up to the house and knock on the door.  
  
Cordelia: "Come on Cordy, you're an actress you can do this... 'Hi keavy, remember me? I'm the girl who sat on her ass while your son got killed in cold blood, can I come in?'  
  
She holds up her hands.  
  
"I brought cake... Okay now you're just being stupid..."  
  
She bangs her head on the steering wheel in frustration.  
  
"UGH!! Ouch that hurt."  
  
She gets out of the car and marches purposefully up to the door and rings the bell, a few seconds pass before Keavy appears. Just enough time for Cordelia's nerves to kick in again.  
  
Cordelia: "Hi..."  
  
Keavy: "What do you want?"  
  
Cordelia: "I hope I'm not disturbing you?... I just wondered if you were okay, you ran out of the office pretty fast this morning."  
  
Keavy: "I guess that was a little odd, wasn't it? I'm sorry about that, would you like to come in?"  
  
Cordelia: "Thanks."  
  
Keavy stands aside holding the door open while Cordelia enters. Her eyes dart around frantically looking for anything out of the ordinary. Everything seems normal.  
  
Keavy: "How did you find my house? I didn't tell you where I live."  
  
She closes the door behind them and leads Cordelia into the lounge.  
  
Cordelia: "Well, I work for private investigator guy so... we have ways."  
  
Keavy: "Please... Sit down...You're not stalking me or anything are you?"  
  
Cordelia laughs nervously and sits on the couch.  
  
Cordelia: "Good god, no! Whatever gave you that idea?"  
  
Keavy: "I don't mean to sound rude... I've been a little on edge lately."  
  
Cordelia: "Is that why you ran out like that?"  
  
Keavy: "Oh... er, yeah, I guess so. That man in your office reminded me of someone and it threw me."  
  
Cordelia: "Angel? He's my boss, investigator guy. So who did he remind you of?... That's if you don't mind me asking."  
  
Keavy: "Just someone I used to know, it was a long time ago. There's a lot of bad memories."  
  
Cordelia: "I'm sorry."  
  
Keavy: "Where are my manners?! Would you like a drink, coffee, tea?"  
  
Cordelia: "Coffee, please. No sugar."  
  
Keavy: "I'll be right back."  
  
Keavy goes to the kitchen pulling the door half closed behind her. Cordelia jumps up and starts to creep around the room, picking up ornaments and nick nacks she whispers to herself.  
  
Cordelia: "This is so not good... The poor woman has just lost her only son and here I am snooping around her home looking for 'I don't know what', just so I can congratulate Angel on his impeccable demon detecting nose."  
  
She picks up a photo album from a bookcase by the front window. Meanwhile Keavy is in the kitchen making the coffee, she hears a faint mumbling coming from the lounge and looks through the gap in the door. Cordelia is flicking through the photo album, she closes it then picks up the next one on the shelf. Keavy is not impressed. She walks back over to the other side of the kitchen and picks up the phone to make a call.  
  
Keavy: "Hi, it's me... Is everything ready for the ceremony tomorrow?... Okay... No, there's no need, I think I just found a volunteer... Great, I'll see you there."  
  
She hangs up the phone and continues making the drinks. Cordelia looks up at the kitchen door, she is safe for another minute so turns a few more pages. The contents of the album are pretty average, pictures of weddings, holidays, everything you would expect so she decides to give up looking. As she dumps the book back on the shelf a couple of loose pages fall on to the floor. She checks the door again then bends down to pick them up. There is a photograph of Keavy and a man with a beard dressed as hippies, she turns the picture over and reads the description...  
  
"Me and Mom 1967, one groovy summer!"  
  
She turns the picture over again to take a closer look.  
  
Cordelia: "Oh my God... Eden?"  
  
Keavy walks in the room carrying a tray filled with drinks and cookies. Cordelia quickly stuffs the picture and what appears to be a letter in her back pocket and rushes over to give Keavy a hand.  
  
"Oh... um, you know what? I just got a call from Angel at the office, they need me back there so I can't stay... I'm really sorry, I have to go."  
  
Keavy: "I didn't hear the phone ring?"  
  
Cordelia: "You didn't?... It's a newfangled vibrating thing, no ring... I have to go, bye. See you at the funeral tomorrow?"  
  
Keavy stands motionless, hands on hips as Cordelia makes a hasty exit. With thunder clouds gathering in her mind, she lets out an exaggerated sigh.  
  
Keavy: "... See you tomorrow."  
  
A sly grin found it's way on to her face. 


	4. chapter four

Angel is spragged out on his couch with an open book on his chest. He has fallen asleep. He dreams about all sorts of things, mainly people he killed and fed on when he was still Angelus, interrupted with images of Buffy. His memory takes him back to the night he became a vampire, then further back a few days to visions of one of his many conquests at that time. A woman named Isabelle. They were lovers. He wakes up and realizes that Keavy, Eden's mother, is Isabelle. But could it really be her? If she were human as he had thought her to be, she would have died a long time ago.  
  
Cordelia gets back to the office to find Wesley alone, and bored. He is sitting at her desk reorganizing her things, when he notices her presence he stops and leans back in the chair knowing she is probably cursing him silently in her head.  
  
Cordelia: "Wesley, will you please leave my stuff alone! Why do you have to make everything so... Neat anyway?"  
  
Wesley: "Well..."  
  
He realizes that whatever argument he poses will be a waste of time so he decides not to bother.  
  
"Just one of my little quirks I suppose... Or rather a mild case of obsessive compulsive behavior, perhaps."  
  
Cordelia: "Whatever. Out of my chair 'Monica'."  
  
He reluctantly moves out over to the neighboring chair and allows Cordelia to take his place. She takes out the photograph of Keavy and Eden along with the letter and plonks them on the desk in front of her.  
  
"By the way, where's Angel?"  
  
Wesley: "He went downstairs to look through his books not long after you left and he hasn't been back up since."  
  
Cordelia starts to read the letter as the rumbling of the elevator fills the office and Angel appears.  
  
"Speak of the devil... I thought you had got lost."  
  
Angel: "I don't know what happened. I sat down to read and I must have just dozed off."  
  
Wesley: "Pleasant dreams?"  
  
Angel: "Its funny you should say that..."  
  
Cordelia: "Funny 'ha ha' or funny peculiar?"  
  
But he ignores her and continues.  
  
Angel: "I did dream but I'm starting to think I was actually remembering something, it all seemed a little too familiar."  
  
Wesley: "Care to share?"  
  
Angel: "It was kinda weird. Before I was changed there was this woman, we were... you know."  
  
Wesley: "Lovers? You can say it you know Angel."  
  
Angel: "Anyway, her name was Isabelle and she looked a lot like Keavy, I mean a lot."  
  
Wesley: "What are you saying? You think Keavy might be related to Isabelle some how?"  
  
Angel: "No, I'm saying what if Keavy is Isabelle?"  
  
Cordelia: "Damn it, damn it damn it!! I hate it when you're right. Why do you always have to be right Angel?"  
  
She throws the letter on desk and pounds her head with a clenched fist.  
  
Angel: "What? What is it?"  
  
Cordelia: "I stole this letter from Keavy's house... It says here that she was from Galway, that's your home town right? So there's a pretty good chance that she's exactly who you think she is, but get this... It also says that she is a 'fairy', so forgive me if I'm wrong, and I usually am, but I thought fairies were tiny little fluttering, wish granting type things?"  
  
Wesley: "So did I but it would seem not... That means Eden would have been a fairy too?"  
  
Cordelia: "Only a half fairy, his father was some human guy called Liam, I finally find Mr. Wonderful and he turns out to be mythical creature from a children's story..."  
  
Angel tries to interrupt her ranting but she doesn't hear him  
  
Angel: "What did you say?"  
  
Cordelia: "Now all I can see is Eden wearing a set of wings and tights, Why me!!!"  
  
She bangs her head on the desk.  
  
Angel: "Cordelia! What did you say?"  
  
Wesley picks up the letter from the desk and starts to read it out loud...  
  
Wesley: "Dear Eden, I don't know how to begin. I've missed you so much, I was so happy when I got your letter. I hope this means we can start to put our differences behind us, what's past is past and there's nothing I can do to change that. I just want to say one thing, I know you think our people's ways are strange, but whether you like it or not it's part of you too. You can't just throw your heritage to one side and forget about being a fairy. It's who we are. I understand that you want to know about your father and I'm sorry that I've lied to you about him all these years, but I honestly thought it was for your own good. Sometimes the truth isn't what we want to hear and I didn't want you to get hurt, I'm sorry if I was wrong in not telling you. He was from my hometown, Galway and we were very much in love, he was human. He didn't know I was a fairy, he thought I was an ordinary young girl, he didn't need to know and I didn't want him to think I was crazy or anything. I never got the chance to tell him about you either which saddens me when I think about it, I often wonder what he would have said had he known. His name was Liam and sometimes when you laugh you look just like him."  
  
Angel sits down and puts his head in his hands.  
  
"I wasn't being entirely honest when I told you he was killed by a vampire, she didn't just leave him to die, she changed him. He became a vampire too and there was nothing I could do to stop it. When I found out that he had murdered all his family and friends I knew he would come after me next and I didn't want to lose you, so I ran. I don't know if he is still alive or not but I'm sure I don't have to ask you not to go looking for him. I can't tell you how sorry I am Eden, I know how much this all means to you, and I wish there was something I could do to make it better. I can only hope that what I've told you isn't too hard for you to hear or that it makes you hate him because when he was alive he was a good man and I loved him so much. I'm sure he would have been proud of you. Write soon love mom."  
  
He folds the letter up slowly and looks back at Angel. Cordelia looks up too noticing that their attention is no longer hers.  
  
Cordelia: "Hello! Feel my pain people, I just found out my boyfriend was a freak of nature..."  
  
Angel: "Cordelia shut up."  
  
Cordelia: "So she was cheating on you big deal! It was two hundred and forty seven years ago. Get over it. Oh my god, Eden was two hundred and forty seven years old! And Liam? That doesn't really sound like a jock name, I bet he was a real pansy."  
  
Angel: "I'm Liam."  
  
Cordelia: "What?"  
  
Wesley: "And the penny drops."  
  
Cordelia: "You mean... You are Eden's father? Oh my god."  
  
They all look at each other in stunned silence, trying to take in the news.  
  
Wesley: "What do you want to do now?"  
  
Angel: "I don't know, it's a little too much to take in at once."  
  
Angel is usually the calm within the storm in times of crisis but this time it is obvious to Wesley that right now Angel is incapable of thinking straight. The reason he left Buffy was because he wasn't able to give her a normal life, they would never be able to have a family of their own and he wasn't going to be the one to deprive her of her dreams. To suddenly discover he has had the one thing he has always wanted is too devastating to hear.  
  
Wesley: "The letter mentioned something about her people's strange ways, I suggest we try and find out what those ways are. Cordelia, you stay here with Angel and I'll go to the library and see what I can find... We'll take it from there."  
  
Angel: "Thanks Wesley."  
  
Angel stands again and walks slowly down the stairs to his apartment. 


	5. chapter five

Somewhere inside a dark and magical woodland, Eden's funeral is coming to an end. There are a few other graves but this isn't your average burial ground, this is a sacred place for fairy folk, only the pure may be buried here. A fairy elder in ceremonial dress gives his blessings to the deceased and wishes him well in the next life. He bows his head in remembrance, as does the small congregation of family and friends. Keavy stands alone away from the gathering, lost in her own thoughts. Angel, lurking in the background, watches as everyone leaves. Cordelia approaches Keavy and places a hand on her shoulder, smiling sympathetically then walks towards Angel. She joins him underneath the tree he has been standing by and leans up against it with him.  
  
Cordelia: "Go easy on her, Okay?"  
  
He nods in acknowledgement.  
  
Keavy walks up to the open grave and places a small posy of flowers by its side and takes a moment to remember her only son. Standing again she covers her face with her hands, sobbing. Angel approaches just as Keavy looks up. Her grief turns to horror, she can't believe he would come to her sons funeral to kill her. She starts to run away but he grabs her arm and stops her.  
  
Angel: "Isabelle wait..."  
  
He spins her around so she is now facing him.  
  
Keavy: "Let go of me!"  
  
Angel: "You're not going anywhere until I get some answers."  
  
She tries to shake free but he holds onto her arm "Look, I'm not going to hurt you..."  
  
Keavy: "You really expect me to believe that? You're a vampire Liam, its in your nature."  
  
Angel: "It's 'Angel' now and I'm not like other vampires, I haven't killed anyone in along time..."  
  
Keavy: "Wow your folks must be real proud! Oh, no wait, I forgot, you ate them."  
  
Angel: "How did you know that?"  
  
Keavy: "I saw you, with that other vampire, on the night you changed. I've spent the last two and a half centuries hiding from you because I don't want to be your next meal."  
  
Angel: "I don't feed, I was cursed by gypsies over a hundred years ago, look, its a long story and I don't want to go into it right now. I just want you to trust me."  
  
Keavy looks up into his hopeful eyes and sees a glimmer of the love she once knew. He is telling the truth.  
  
"I promise you, I'm not the same person I was, I mean vampire, you know what I mean. If anything Cordelia's the resident evil here not me.."  
  
Keavy: "What?"  
  
Angel: "Never mind, I was trying to be funny, ease the tension a little but I should know better by now, humor just doesn't work for me"  
  
Keavy: "Shut up. I think I believe you."  
  
Angel: "Or maybe it does, thanks."  
  
Keavy: "Angel, will you just get to the point? If you don't mind I'd like to go home tonight and grieve for my son."  
  
Angel: "You mean our son."  
  
Keavy: "How did you... Who told you?"  
  
Angel: "Does it matter?"  
  
Keavy: "I guess not."  
  
She looks again at the grave.  
  
"It's too late now anyway."  
  
Angel: "Why didn't you tell me?"  
  
Keavy: "Tell you what? That I was pregnant?"  
  
Angel: "Yeah."  
  
Keavy: "I was going to. As soon as I found out I went looking for you but I didn't know where you were. Your mother told me you were at that tavern so I went right there and..."  
  
Angel: "And you saw me turn into a vampire."  
  
FLASH BACK...  
  
Angel is talking to Darla in the ally. (Isabelle doesn't hear this conversation. She just stands watching from a safe distance.) WRITTEN BY JOSS WHEDON not me  
  
Angel: "So I ask myself, what is a lady of your station doing alone in an ally, with the reputation that this one has?"  
  
Darla: "Maybe she's lonely."  
  
Angel: "In that case, I offer myself as escort, to protect you from harm and to while away the dole hours."  
  
Darla: "You're very gracious."  
  
Angel: "It's often been said."  
  
Darla: "Are you sure you're up to the challenge?"  
  
Angel: "My lady, you'll find, with the exception of an honest days work, there's no challenge I'm not prepared to face." (Walking closer to her.) "Oh but your a pretty thing. Where are you from?"  
  
Darla: "Around, everywhere."  
  
Angel: "I've never been anywhere myself, always wanted to see the world but..."  
  
Darla: "I could show you."  
  
Angel: "Could you then?"  
  
Darla: "Things you've never seen, never even heard of."  
  
Angel: "Sounds exciting."  
  
Darla: "It is, and frightening."  
  
Angel: "I'm not afraid. Show me, show me your world."  
  
Darla: "Close your eyes."  
  
He closes his eyes as she learns in towards him, her vampire face finally showing itself. She bites him on the neck, he is shocked but doesn't struggle. Pulling away from him she cuts a line across her own chest, blood begins to seep from the wound. She grabs his head and thrusts him into her bosom, forcing him to drink her blood. She pulls his head away from her, holding his face in her hands she looks into his frightened eyes and laughs. He is beginning to lose consciousness, she lets him flop to the floor, then turns and walks away still amused at her conquest. (End of Joss Script.) "I'll be waiting for you."  
  
She vanishes around the corner.  
  
All the while, Isabelle has been watching, her face is wet with tears and her heart broken. She runs to Liams' limp body lying on the ground, he is covered in blood, and still. His eyes are open but they are dark and empty, starring into thin air. He is dead. She can no longer control her emotions and yet more floods of tears pour down her face, she whimpers quietly, cradling him in her arms. Stroking his hair away from his face Isabelle realizes she must leave him before the demon in him wakes. She plants a kiss on his forehead, whispering.  
  
"Goodbye my love."  
  
Then she is gone.  
  
PRESENT DAY....  
  
Keavy: "I saw her feed on you and then I stood there and watched you die. Can you imagine what that feels like?"  
  
The memory of Doyle's recent death flashes into Angel's mind.  
  
Angel: "I know what it feels like. I'm sorry."  
  
Keavy: "It's a little late for sorry."  
  
Angel: "So what happened to you? Where did you go?"  
  
Keavy: "I went to see the elders..."  
  
Interrupting herself.  
  
"You know what I am right? I mean you know I'm not human, because for one thing I'm alive and about two hundred and sixty six years old..."  
  
Angel: "I know. You're a fairy. The elders?"  
  
Keavy: "I went to ask them to save you. My people have the power to control human destinies, I've never been entirely sure how it works exactly but I begged and pleaded with them to help you but..."  
  
Angel: "But?"  
  
Keavy: "They wouldn't do it."  
  
FLASH BACK...  
  
Isabelle is knelt in front of an old woman, crying. The woman holds Isabelle's head in her hands wiping her tears from her eyes. Although she seems to care, her face has no expression.  
  
Isabelle: "Please!, I'm begging you, you know how much this means to me. If you won't do it for me then do it for my child, please. Don't deny him a father..."  
  
Elder: "It is not permitted. Our purpose is purely to serve others, not ourselves."  
  
Isabelle: "Have you no heart?"  
  
Elder: "I have a heart and it beats as your does, but you are young and you have many things to learn about this world we live in. Every thing happens for a reason and ours is not to question what is right or wrong. Time will bring you many more hardships, much worse than that which you now face."  
  
She stands and wipes her wet hands on her dress.  
  
"I cannot help you."  
  
Isabelle: "No you must!."  
  
Isabelle stands too, reaching for the woman's hand who turns and starts to walk away from her.  
  
Elder: "I cannot. You will speak no more of it."  
  
Isabelle: "Then I cannot live among people who would turn against me when I need them the most."  
  
The old woman stops and looks back over her shoulder.  
  
Elder: "What will you do then?"  
  
PRESENT DAY  
  
Keavy: "I wandered around for a few days, aimlessly. You know, like when your mind's turned off and your feet take charge? You just walk and walk, not really knowing where you're going to end up."  
  
Angel: "Where did you go?"  
  
Keavy: "I went to your parent's home. I thought maybe I could warn them about you but when I got there it was too late, you'd got there first and killed them. I was just about to go inside, I don't know why, and I saw you standing there with the other vampire, you were kissing. Something inside of me snapped, I had to get out of there. She'd taken you away from me and I knew that if I ever saw you again you would kill me in a second. I didn't mean anything to you anymore. So... I got on a boat and wound up here, I tried so hard to forget you."  
  
Angel: "Did it work?"  
  
Keavy: "It was a little difficult to forget when I was carrying around your unborn child. I worked in a tavern for a while, until I got too big, then the owner said he had to let me go because I wasn't attractive to the customers anymore. I ended up back on the streets again but then I met this old woman, she knew I wasn't human, she just looked at me and she could tell. She had built herself a little shelter in an ally and let me stay for a few nights but Eden was almost due to be born, so she told me about a family of Al demons that would take care of me. God was that a mistake. Everything was fine for a month or so, they seemed really nice but I woke up one night and found myself tied to the bed. It turned out that by accepting their hospitality I'd unknowingly volunteered to allow them to sacrifice my baby and to kill me doing it. The father of the family was standing at the end of the bed with this pair of scissors in his hands, he was just going to cut me open and take him out. When I looked up and saw him standing there, I couldn't move. My whole body was paralyzed, numb."  
  
Angel: "What happened?"  
  
Keavy: "Well, I panicked obviously. There was no way he was going to take my baby away from me without a fight. I wasn't going to let him die just because some hairy backed half animal half demon belonged to some kind of cult and he needed to pay the membership fee... I don't know how I did it but I managed to loosen the ties on the bed and got out. They whole family chased me for half a mile through the fields, they gave up in the end and I'm guessing they went home, but I didn't stop, I just kept running and running, I've never been so afraid in my whole life. I got as far as the local farm on the edge of town before I collapsed, I was bleeding everywhere, I was losing Eden. I lay there in the dirt for almost an hour, screaming, I didn't know what to do. Eventually the farmer came out and found me and helped me deliver Eden, he'd have died inside me if it hadn't been for him."  
  
Angel looks at Keavy, she is struggling to keep her composure, she turns away from him embarrassed.  
  
Angel: "I don't know what to say to you."  
  
Keavy: "Every story should have a happy ending right? The farmer, his name was Jonathan, he took me in and that's where we stayed. We got married and had a pretty good life together. No thanks to you... So did I cover everything? That's everything you wanted to know isn't it? I'd love to stick around and chat but I have somewhere to be, so I'm just going to go."  
  
Angel had a distinct feeling that she hadn't exactly told him everything, but she was apparently grieving for her son so he didn't want to push it just incase he was wrong.  
  
FLASH BACK again to Isabelle being visited by the fairy elder to tell her about her commitment to the powers of hell.  
  
Meanwhile, Cordelia is still standing under the tree where Angel was. A hand comes from behind the tree, holding a chloroform cloth over her mouth. She rolls her eyes and slumps on to the floor. Two women grab hold of Cordy's body and drag her deeper into the woods.  
  
Having finished telling Angel her life story, but conveniently leaving out certain details, Keavy leaves him alone by his son's grave. He looks down at the mound in front of him thinking about what might have been, had he not gone with Darla that night. Wesley approaches Angel carefully not knowing what frame of mind he might be in. Angel looks up and greets him with a painful smile.  
  
Wesley: "How did it go?"  
  
Angel: "I had a son Wesley, and I never knew it. I can't help thinking, if only... You know?"  
  
Wesley: "If only you hadn't become a vampire? I don't know... I like to think these things happen for a reason. I mean if things had been different, we wouldn't be standing here right now and I don't suppose you would be out saving people every night would you?"  
  
Angel: "I've killed more people than I've saved"  
  
Wesley: "I have to believe in pre-determined destiny Angel, It's the only way I get to sleep at night."  
  
The two men just look at each other solemnly.  
  
Angel: "Did you manage to find anything?"  
  
Wesley: "I think I've read every single book in the public library, I was there all night..."  
  
Angel: "I bet you thought you'd died and gone to heaven."  
  
Wesley: "Almost. Its not good news I'm afraid."  
  
Angel: "Is it ever? What is it?"  
  
Wesley: "It appears that Keavy is indeed a fairy but not one of the cute and magical variety. As far as I can gather she's very much the opposite, she married a human man and become immortal..."  
  
Angel interrupts him.  
  
Angel: "Yeah she told me that part, what else?"  
  
Wesley: "I bet she didn't tell you the price of her immortality though did she?"  
  
Angel: "What price?"  
  
Wesley: "Each year on the anniversary of her marriage she must give an offering to the powers of hell, in the form of some kind of sacrifice, usually babies and small children but any human will do."  
  
Angel: "Suddenly I don't feel quite so sorry for her. What happens if she doesn't do it?  
  
Wesley: "She can no longer live in our reality and would be banished to hell for all eternity. I hear it's quite nice there at this time of year."  
  
Angel: "So in theory, all we have to do is find her and stop her from going through with it? When's her anniversary?"  
  
Wesley: "I also spent a number of hours in public records and the history section and surprise, surprise, it's today. That's assuming she hasn't already paid up, as it were, By the way, where's Cordelia? Probably already made a mad dash to the house for the buffet..."  
  
Angel: "No, she's standing right over..."  
  
Looking around frantically he realizes she has vanished. 


	6. chapter six

Cordelia is laid out on a big stone slab, unconscious. The room is dank and poorly lit by a few large church candles scattered around her. She is not alone. Three people dressed in hooded ceremonial robes are nearby quietly talking in some strange language, it sounds as if they are reciting some sort of incantation. Her eyes flicker and open, she can feel a cold breeze on her face, she looks around herself trying to work out where she is.  
  
Cordelia: "Okay... Nasty smelly old crypt... Candles... Chanting... Ooh big knife! Looks pretty much like your average run of the mill sacrifice. And would you look at that, little old me tied to a big sacrificial slab, great. The perfect end to the perfect week."  
  
One of the figures looks up noticing she is awake.  
  
Sacrificer #1: "Yes my dear, it would appear you have been captured."  
  
It is a female voice, she walks slowly towards Cordelia holding out the knife..  
  
"This is the part I like best..."  
  
She looks over her shoulder to the others, smiling.  
  
"The part when they realise they're about to die."  
  
Looking back at Cordelia she continues...  
  
"Some scream for their mothers, others turn to God. Personally I prefer the screamers, it's more fun."  
  
She pulls down her hood to reveal her face, it is Keavy.  
  
"I wonder which one you will be?"  
  
Cordelia: "I think 'oh my god' doesn't quite cover it."  
  
She laughs nervously  
  
Keavy: "Ah, religion. I had my money on you being a screamer, but I guess you can't win them all. I'm still gonna kill you though so you might as well make yourself comfortable. Now, I have work to do, this whole sacrifice thing takes a while what with the chanting and the forming of circles and stuff so would you like me to get you a crossword puzzle or something?"  
  
The other two people snigger from across the room.  
  
Cordelia: "You're so funny I think I'm going to die laughing, so keep up the comedy and you won't have anything left to sacrifice."  
  
Keavy is not amused and hits Cordelia across the face with surprising force. She winces with pain.  
  
Keavy: "Still think I'm funny? You won't be laughing for long."  
  
She turns away, smugly, stroking the knife in her hand. "Lets not waste any more of my precious time, continue with the ceremony." Keavy joins the other two and begins chanting again. Cordelia is determined to distract them...  
  
Cordelia: "Hey! Tinkerbell! Angel told you he was a good guy right? Well he lied!"  
  
Keavy: "Is that right?"  
  
Cordelia: "Oh yeah, he is sooo evil! And you know what? When he finds out what you're doing, he's gonna kick your little fairy ass all over town!!"  
  
Keavy charges towards Cordelia, knife in hand.  
  
Keavy: "Stuff the ritual, I ought to just kill you right now!"  
  
The other two women run up to Keavy snatching the knife from her.  
  
Sacrificer #2: "Don't let her get to you, she's just a child, and if you kill her now before the ritual is complete you won't live to see another day. We don't have time for this."  
  
Keavy glares at Cordleia  
  
Keavy: "You've got nice eyes. They're going to make a great addition to my collection."  
  
Cordelia: "What?"  
  
Keavy: "Oh, didn't I tell you? I collect eye balls."  
  
Cordelia: "You're sick, why would someone do that?"  
  
Keavy: "The eyes are the windows to ones soul... I don't have a soul."  
  
Cordelia: "Why am I not surprised?"  
  
Keavy: "I take out the eyes of everyone I kill, and their soul belongs to me."  
  
Sacrificer #2: "Keavy! We don't have time for this."  
  
Keavy: "Thanks to you my son is dead, I'm really going to enjoy watching you die."  
  
Angel: "You're not going to get the chance."  
  
Keavy and the others spin round to see Angel and Wesley standing in the door of the crypt.  
  
Cordelia: "What took you so long?"  
  
Cordelia kicks one of the sacrificers in the head sending her staggering across the room while Angel and Wesley swoop in on Keavy and the other woman, fists are flying and candles scatter all around as the fight continues, Cordelia in the meantime is still tied up and struggling to break free. Looking up she sees that Wesley is about to be hit over the head with a wrought iron candlestick...  
  
Cordelia: "WESLEY DUCK!!"  
  
He drops to the floor in a comical fashion then rights himself again in time to get in another punch before his assailant can retaliate.  
  
Wesley: "Thank you for that, but a terrible thought has just occurred to me..."  
  
His attacker leaps on top of him from behind.  
  
Cordelia: "HIT HER AGAIN!!"  
  
Angel: "Can't it wait?, we're kind of in the middle of something here Wesley."  
  
Keavy hits Angel square in the face with all her might, knocking him to the ground, she picks up the knife and drives it into his side. He stands up bringing out his vampire face, and hits her back just as hard.  
  
Wesley, now stuck in a very firm headlock continues...  
  
Wesley: "I stand by my research abilities but I'm afraid... I'd like to take this opportunity... to apologize, it seems there is one minor detail... that in my haste I overlooked... I have absolutely no idea how... to kill a fairy, FOR HEAVEN'S SAKE WOMAN!"  
  
He flips her over his back, dropping her with a spine-crunching thud on the ground. Straightening up and brushing some imaginary dust off his hands, suddenly a thought pops into his mind.  
  
"OOH! I don't believe in fairies!!"  
  
He waits for a reaction. Cordelia just looks at him confused.  
  
"I don't believe in fairies!!"  
  
He motions with his hands as if to emphasise the point.  
  
Cordelia: "What are you doing?"  
  
Wesley: "Well it works on Peter Pan.."  
  
Cordelia: "You know what else might work? Slaying her! Oh and if you could perhaps find the time to untie me some time soon, that would be a big help..."  
  
Wesley: "Oh yes of course.."  
  
He runs over and free's Cordelia. Angel has managed to keep a firm grasp on Keavy, despite the gaping wound in his side. Wesley takes the ropes that were binding Cordelia and uses them to tie her up. The other two women are unconscious on the floor.  
  
Angel: "Looks like you're out of time." 


	7. chapter seven

Keavy is tied up in Angel's apartment. Cordelia and Wesley are still there too, Wesley is reading a book in the lounge area and Cordelia is bandaging the cut in Angel's side. She presses some tape onto his skin to hold it all in place then puts the roll back in the first aid box and closes it.  
  
Cordelia: "It's late, Wesley and I are gonna go... Are you going to be okay?"  
  
Angel: "I'll be fine, thanks..."  
  
He looks over at Keavy  
  
"She's not going anywhere."  
  
He pulls on a clean shirt and walks over to the kitchen where Keavy is. Cordelia puts the first aid box on the coffee table and picks up her coat from the couch.  
  
Cordelia: "Wesley, you ready to go?"  
  
He closes his book and stands up.  
  
Wesley: "Ready."  
  
The pair quietly head for the stairs but before they disappear Cordelia looks back at Angel. He looks tired and confused, and although he has a gaping hole in his side it is obvious that his pain is being caused by something else. A longing for the son he almost knew and guilt for not being there, not being part of his life. She picks up his hand and holds it tightly.  
  
Cordelia: "Call me if you need anything, okay?"  
  
He squeezes back affectionately  
  
Angel: "Okay."  
  
She smiles at him then follows Wesley up the stairs. Angel watches them go then pulls out a dining chair, turns it the wrong way round and sits down. Keavy just stares at him blankly. He starts to say something but the words get stuck at the back of his throat, he sighs and rubs his eyes with the palm of his hand. A whole minute of uncomfortable silence passes before Keavy speaks...  
  
Keavy: "Are you going to say something or are you just going to sit there thinking about it? Because as talented as I am, I'm not a mind reader. You're going to have to spit it out."  
  
She raises her eyebrows sarcastically but he ignores her tone and tries again, softly and almost afraid to say it...  
  
Angel: "I want you to tell me about Eden... What was he like? I deserve that at least, don't I?  
  
Keavy: "You don't deserve anything."  
  
Angel: "Why not?"  
  
Keavy: "Because you abandoned us."  
  
Angel: "That's not fair, I didn't know about Eden and I didn't abandon you. I was turned into a vampire..."  
  
Keavy: "Five minutes before you became a vampire, you were a man. A man who was supposedly in love with me. It didn't take you long to forget about our so called 'love' once you set your sights on that other woman, that vampire..."  
  
Angel: "Darla."  
  
Keavy: "I don't care what her name was, all I cared about was you. You had a choice. You didn't have to become a vampire and as I recall you didn't put up much of a fight. You chose it, and in my book that counts as abandonment."  
  
Angel: "I'm sorry... I can't change the past."  
  
Keavy: "Well we got along just fine without you, so don't torture yourself."  
  
Another minute of silence passes.  
  
Angel: "I don't blame you for being bitter towards me."  
  
Keavy: "Bitterness gave way to seething hatred a long time ago."  
  
He looks into her eyes and all he can see is hurt.  
  
Angel: "You're not going to tell me anything are you?"  
  
Keavy: "Sure, I'll tell you, I'll tell you everything you want to know just..."  
  
Angel: "I'm not letting you go."  
  
Keavy: "You'd rather send me to hell? And give up your only chance of finding out about your son?"  
  
Angel: "If it means that no one else gets brutally murdered then yeah, I guess so."  
  
It is almost midnight. Keavy looks up at the clock and starts to panic.  
  
Keavy: "Liam, please! Just let me go! I'll do anything you want, I could go back to the elders they'll bring Eden back and you can get to know him..."  
  
Angel: "They wouldn't save my life, what makes you think this is any different?"  
  
The room starts to get warmer, hot air starts to circle around them. Keavy glares at him.  
  
Keavy: "Please! I'm begging you!! Don't do this to me!!"  
  
A small black hole materializes a few feet away from her. It begins to expand. The temperature continues to rise. She squirms madly in her chair trying to free herself. A hooded figure glides through the hole, holding out his hand to her. He speaks...  
  
Figure: "It is time... Come with me."  
  
She looks up at him, terrified, she screams  
  
Keavy: "NO, I WON'T GO!!"  
  
Figure: "Your fate is decided, you have no choice."  
  
The ropes binding Keavy fall to the floor, she tries to run but Angel jumps up and grabs her, throwing her backwards into the arms of the man. A loud roar accompanied by a huge blast forces Angel to the floor covering his eyes. Then silence. The room is cool again. They are gone.  
  
***  
  
An hour later Angel is sitting under the same tree he was earlier that day at Eden's funeral. His voice sounds small and insignificant in the cold night air.  
  
Angel: "I don't really know what I'm doing here, talking to myself in the middle of the woods... I guess I wanted to say something... To apologize for not being there for you... I thought maybe saying it out loud might make it more real somehow, I don't know... "  
  
He looks up at the grave in front of him.  
  
"I'm sorry I couldn't be your father..."  
  
A light breeze blows some dead leaves across the ground over Eden's grave. Someone sits down beside him.  
  
Eden: "You don't need to apologize for anything."  
  
He sees the confused look on Angel's face.  
  
Angel: "I thought you were dead?"  
  
Eden: "I am... Don't look so surprised, you've seen ghosts before haven't you?"  
  
Angel: "Yeah but I've never had a face to face conversation with one."  
  
Eden: "Special circumstances I guess."  
  
Angel: "I don't understand."  
  
Eden: "You don't need to."  
  
He smiles.  
  
"You came here to talk to me, and I came here to listen."  
  
Angel: "I don't know what to say..."  
  
Eden: "It's okay... I already know what's in your heart, it might not beat anymore but it's just as full as it was when you were alive... We all make mistakes and wish we'd done things differently, that's life. And yeah sure, I missed having a father figure but I never once blamed you. Your friend Wesley is right, things happen for a reason. We all got our destinies mapped out in front of us, and it doesn't matter if you haven't worked out what it is yet. You are who you're supposed to be and you're doing alright."  
  
Angel: "What happens to you? What's your destiny?"  
  
Eden: "I'm not sure yet but I hope its something profound... No doubt it's all part of their master plan."  
  
He looks up at the stars.  
  
Angel: "There's something I need to tell you... I just sent your mother to hell."  
  
Eden: "It's alright I know. That's something I should have done a long time ago."  
  
Angel: "So why didn't you?"  
  
Eden: "What can I say, she was my mom. Whatever else she was, at the end of the day she brought me into this world and I just couldn't kill her."  
  
Angel: "I'm sorry I was the one to do it."  
  
Eden: "Somebody had to, and who better to kill my mom than my dad? I'm just joking. I didn't mean that... She always loved you, you know? She thought she hated you but to hate some one that much you've got to love them. It was like she lived her whole life stuck in 1753, she could never get passed that. Maybe that's why she chose immortality, so she could stick around for you to find her and that some miracle would happen and you two would live happily ever after."  
  
Angel: "I don't believe in happily ever after anymore... So how come you're not immortal?"  
  
Eden: "I thought about it, a couple of times but having seen the effect it had on my mom, what she turned into, I didn't want to end up like that... Plus the fact that I never found anyone I wanted to marry. Anyone who would understand the world I lived in."  
  
Angel: "What about Cordelia?"  
  
Eden: "She came pretty close, I'm going to miss her... I learned more about her in one day than I did about most people in a lifetime. Take care of her, she's special."  
  
Angel: "I will. Can I ask you something? Something else."  
  
Eden: "Sure."  
  
Angel: "Did you know? I mean, when we met at the office, did you realize that I was your father?"  
  
Eden simply nods and smiles shyly. At least Angel now knew why Eden had been starring at him the way he had and why he had been so nervous about meeting him.  
  
Another gust of wind kicks up the leaves around the Forrest floor. Eden looks at his watch.  
  
Eden: "I have to go now... I wish I could stay but I can't."  
  
Angel: "Can you ever come back?"  
  
Eden: "I don't think so but don't worry... I'll be watching and listening."  
  
They both stand up. Eden looks at his grave then back at Angel.  
  
"It's a shame really, I think we could have been close."  
  
Angel: "Yeah... I'm glad we got this chance to talk though."  
  
Eden: "Me too... Oh, before I forget, some Irish guy said to say hi, and to tell you that he's okay. He said you'd know who he was."  
  
Angel: "I do, it's nice to know."  
  
Eden: "I feel like I want to hug you or something but I'd probably just pass right through you and fall on the floor, so I won't."  
  
Angel grins at him  
  
"I really do have to go now... Bye Dad."  
  
Angel: "Bye."  
  
Eden walks away into the darkness of the woods. Angel looks up at the stars with a tear in his eye and a lump in his throat.  
  
"Thank you Doyle." 


	8. chapter eight

It's the final chapter! I hope you enjoy it :o)  
  
***  
  
Early the next morning Cordelia and Wesley arrive at the office door and find it already unlocked. Wesley pulls Cordelia behind him, being the protective male, and walks slowly and cautiously through the door. He looks all around the room for any intruders but there aren't any, only Angel sat alone in his chair. He looks up wearily and greets them with a pathetic smile.  
  
Angel: "Hey."  
  
Cordelia: "Hey."  
  
Wesley sits down while Cordelia takes off her coat and hangs it up. Angel starts fiddling with a pen.  
  
Cordelia: "What are you doing up so early? I thought there was no life before lunch?"  
  
Angel: "Couldn't sleep."  
  
Cordelia: "That makes three of us then."  
  
She sits down beside Wesley and an uncomfortable silence hits them like a ten-pound lump hammer. Angel continues to roll the pen up and down the desk, Wesley scratches his head and fidgets in his chair. Cordelia can't stand the awkward atmosphere and looks Angel straight in the face waiting for him to notice her. His eyes remain fixed on the path of the pen.  
  
"Are we allowed to talk about what's happened? Or is this going to be one of those things we just have to try and forget about and never mention it again?"  
  
Angel doesn't even bother to look up.  
  
Angel: "What's there to talk about? I had a son. He's dead. End of story."  
  
She leans forward and snatches up the pen, he finally sits up and acknowledges her.  
  
Cordelia: "Well I for one need a few things explaining."  
  
Angel: "Like what?"  
  
Cordelia: "I get why Keavy was still alive, she was immortal, as long as she murdered somebody every year, but I don't understand why Eden was still alive... How long do fairies live anyway?"  
  
Wesley: "Three hundred years... Apparently, the natural life span is three hundred years but if a fairy marries they automatically become immortal as we found out with Keavy but the pure hearted fairy, who has no desire for immortality, dies at the big three oh oh. They transform into enlightened beings and are given a soul, like the elders."  
  
Angel looks back at Cordelia.  
  
Angel: "Anything else?"  
  
Cordelia: "Actually that was pretty much it but it's been bugging the hell out of me all night."  
  
Quiet descends again. Cordelia hands the pen back to Angel, as a smile wrestles its way onto her face.  
  
"So if Eden and I had got married, that would have made you my father in law."  
  
Her smile expands into a stupid grin. Angel can't keep a straight face any longer. His mouth cracks and allows a smirk to appear.  
  
Angel: "Scary I know."  
  
Cordelia: "Hey, I'm just about coping with the brotherly love thing but the thought of you getting all parental on me is just too bizarre to contemplate."  
  
Wesley straightens up in his chair and folds his arms.  
  
Wesley: "I must say I'm disappointed."  
  
Angel: "Why?"  
  
Wesley: "This is supposed to be like the part at the end of the movie when we sit around and analyze recent events, sharing our inspired insights on life's hardships... The best you can come up with is being freaked out by the thought of being related to Angel."  
  
Cordelia: "Hey I'm no Dawson Leery."  
  
Wesley/Angel together: "Who?"  
  
Obviously the reference to the teen angst TV show "Dawson's Creek" was wasted on the clueless pair.  
  
Cordelia: "Never mind... So who wants coffee?"  
  
Wesley: "Yes please."  
  
Cordelia: "Angel?"  
  
Angel: "I'll pass, thanks."  
  
She gets up and vanishes into the outer office to make the drinks. Wesley waits until she has gone and then leans towards Angel and whispers.  
  
Wesley: "Teen angst at it's finest I do believe. I liked the one where they went to that island to make their own Blair witch project."  
  
Angel's smirk resurfaces momentarily.  
  
Angel: "Same time next week?"  
  
Wesley: "You bet, and bring munchies."  
  
Cordelia is just replacing the carton of milk to the fridge when there is a knock on the door. She turns to see her friend Veronica standing in the entrance with her baby sleeping in her arms.  
  
Veronica: "Anybody home?"  
  
Cordelia squeals with delight and hurries over to her.  
  
Cordelia: "Oh my god he's so tiny."  
  
Veronica: "He didn't feel so tiny on the way out I can tell you."  
  
Cordelia: "He's beautiful Roni... I can't believe you're a mom."  
  
Veronica: "You and me both. I keep thinking someone is going to come and take him away from me but they're not, he's really mine."  
  
Cordelia: "Wow."  
  
She traces a finger over his plump little cheek. Wriggling his nose he opens his eyes and murmurs then closes them and goes back to sleep. "Can I?"  
  
Veronica: "Sure..."  
  
She passes the baby over to Cordelia's waiting arms.  
  
"Watch his head."  
  
Cordelia: "Hello little guy..."  
  
Veronica smiles proudly at her son.  
  
"He's heavier than he looks, isn't he?"  
  
She picks up his hand and shakes it, he clasps on to her finger tightly.  
  
"You want to go meet my friends? Okay, come with me."  
  
She carries him into Angel's office with Veronica following closely behind.  
  
"Hey look who's here, we have a visitor."  
  
Angel and Wesley stand up to welcome their guests.  
  
"Veronica, this is Angel and Wesley."  
  
Veronica: "Hi."  
  
Angel smiles and sits back down in his chair. Wesley joins Cordelia's side and starts cooing over the baby."  
  
Wesley: "Is this the little fella who has no name?"  
  
Veronica: "I'm afraid so... I thought that as soon as I saw him, a name would just pop into my head and that would be that but I'm embarrassed to say it hasn't happened that way."  
  
Cordelia: "Don't worry I'm sure you'll think of something soon."  
  
Wesley: "My I make a suggestion?"  
  
Veronica: "Sure, why not."  
  
Wesley: "Wesley is a fine upstanding name, it has a certain quality to it that demands respect don't you think?"  
  
Cordelia tries to stop herself form laughing but doesn't quite manage it.  
  
Veronica: "Well... I agree, it does have a certain quality as you say but... I'm not really sure he looks like a Wesley."  
  
Wesley: "I appreciate your tactfulness unlike Miss Chase here who has yet to master the ability."  
  
While the three continue to try and think of a name for the infant Angel's mind begins to wonder, back to 1753 and a lonely woman giving birth in a field on a cold night. He imagines her lying on the ground covered in blood cradling a child in her arms. His child.  
  
Angel: "Eden."  
  
Veronica: "Excuse me?"  
  
Angel: "You could call him Eden."  
  
Cordelia and Wesley both look at Angel sympathetically then back at the baby. Veronica takes back her son and holds him up to see his face. He squirms in her grip and opens his eyes for his mother to see.  
  
Veronica: "Eden? I think he likes that."  
  
  
  
The End. 


End file.
